75 200 under engine cross brace question

[raleighrugger]

O.k. guys, the discovery of a slow trans fluid leak has lead me to address something that has been bugging me for some time now. First off I suspect the torque converter/ imput shaft seal has gone bad as it's slowly leaking. I figure a new seal, and possibly a torque converter repair sleeve will do the trick.


Not a super hard fix, except for my cross memeber issue... In the past when I was mocking up the custom "J.J. SII to D-Series side style motor mount" conversion, removing that under engine cross memeber requires removal of one of the shackle mounts from the frame. Is there any other way to do this without removing the shackle mount? Another issue i've noticed is where my 345 mates to the 727 bellhousing, is very close to, if not resting on the cross member that supports the frame right in front of the rear, front spring shackles. Is the engine/trans supposed to be that close?


I wish this cross memeber was like the SII trans mount cross memeber and there were two permanent mounts on the frame and the actual cross memeber was a bolt up operation. I know that in the future I'll be doing a 700r4 swap and I want to avoid having to deal with all the BS of removing this cross member more than once.

[Jeff Jamison]

Its suppose to be that close to the crossmember.I dont remove it,just remove the 8 bolts from it,I tap it back with a hammer by hitting at the lower center so I can unbolt the converter cover and converter bolts,than tap it forward to remove tranny
Jeff

[Tom Mandera]

Just a clarification on your subject - you're talking about the BELLHOUSING crossmember, which is a pretty insubstantial item on the 74/75 (vs the 69-73 where it is a big deal).

There should ALSO be an under-engine crossmember that goes under the oil pan. It is present in a big way on the IFS trucks (it's part of the A-arm mounts and coil springs), and in a less big way on the 4x4 trucks (a removable crossmember)

[raleighrugger]

Originally Posted by Jeff Jamison

Its suppose to be that close to the crossmember. I dont remove it,just remove the 8 bolts from it,I tap it back with a hammer by hitting at the lower center so I can unbolt the converter cover and converter bolts,than tap it forward to remove tranny
Jeff

Good to know that it's supposed to be that close to the Eng/Trans. By taping it with a hammer/mallet, you actually can move it back enough to get the flywheel cover off and have access to the TC bolts?

Originally Posted by Tom Mandera

Just a clarification on your subject - you're talking about the BELLHOUSING crossmember, which is a pretty insubstantial item on the 74/75 (vs the 69-73 where it is a big deal).

Yes that's the one I'm talking about. As for it being pretty insubstantial, I thought it would be pretty important as it acts as bracing for the shackle mounts. Next to every other spring/shackle mounting point there is some kind of lateral bracing in the form of a cross member. I could be wrong though.

Originally Posted by Tom Mandera

There should ALSO be an under-engine crossmember that goes under the oil pan. It is present in a big way on the IFS trucks (it's part of the A-arm mounts and coil springs), and in a less big way on the 4x4 trucks (a removable crossmember)

I would agree with this. The cross member that goes under the oil pan is removable on my truck. I would think that the engine would act as a sufficient enough cross member. Maybe that one on the 4x4 trucks is just for "good measure".

[Jeff Jamison]

Yes you can move it enough,realy tilt it,I just did this (last spring)pulled the engine out of my 74 to put in my newest travelette
Jeff

[Monkeyplasm]

I wouldn't remove it.

Either pivot it fore and aft as needed (after bolt removal), or just loosen the trans mount and jack up the drivetrain enough to clear the trans/cover mounting bolt heads.

The 'front' under*engine crossmember is to keep the frame rails from spreading under the engine, which is rubber mounted not rigid mounted.

[raleighrugger]

Originally Posted by Monkeyplasm

I wouldn't remove it.

Either pivot it fore and aft as needed (after bolt removal), or just loosen the trans mount and jack up the drivetrain enough to clear the trans/cover mounting bolt heads.

The 'front' under*engine crossmember is to keep the frame rails from spreading under the engine, which is rubber mounted not rigid mounted.

That makes sense. Thanks for the tip on unbolting the trans mount.